Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Increases By 21.4%

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,071,581 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the February 26th total of 5,824,421 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 893,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.9 days. Currently, 8.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,283,449.57. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 951.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,494,000 after buying an additional 112,042 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $62.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $43.90 and a 1-year high of $75.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 24.05%.The firm had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HWC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.